According to Austine Luseni the Communications Specialist in Ministry of Energy on Thursday 10 September, 2020. Stated that the Minister of Energy headed by the most erudite minister Alhaji Kanja Sesay, has commissioned some twenty (20) solar lights which his ministry had presented to the Fourah Bay College Students’ Union Government. The ceremony which took place on the Fourah Bay College campus attracted several students and dignitaries.
Welcoming the minister and his entourage, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Fourah Bay College, Professor Lawrence Kamara, noted that he couldn’t be more thrilled by the development, describing it as epic and massively significant. He maintained that Fourah Bay College had grappled with the perennial issue of electricity, adding that the absence of solar lights had compromised the safety and security of students on campus. He praised the Minister of Energy for the commendable strides in the sector and further urged him not to step off the gas. Professor Kamara also praised the Students’ Union Government.
President of the Fourah Bay College Students’ Union, Mr. Bona, said Fourah Bay College had existed for 193 years but could still not maximize adequate illumination on campus. He described that challenge as daunting and herculean while also reckoning that it was a challenge that required collaborative efforts to be surmounted. He thanked the Minister of Energy for the solar lights, stating further that they as students could not overemphasize the crucial significance of the solar lights.
Mr. Bona maintained that his administration had adopted a positive approach to development and was not the type of administration that could only be associated with triggering students’ riots or protests on campus. He promised that his Government would continue to explore the possibilities of development that abound in both the public and private sectors and would definitely ensure that those developments gravitate towards the Fourah Bay College campus for the benefit of not only the current crop of students but for generations yet unborn .
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, said his visit to Fourah Bay College in the capacity as Minister of Energy had rolled back his tertiary education years, recalling how he served as Secretary General of the Fourah Bay College Students’ Union in the late 70s. Mr. Sesay commended President Bona and his Executive for thinking development and for maintaining a very cordial relationship with the college administration.
The Minister of Energy went further to say that when the project proposal was presented by the Students’ Union Government, he and his dedicated team at the ministry were compelled to act because of the many security problems that had arisen on campus as a result of the lack of solar lights. He said the ministry had only presented 20 solar lights to Fourah Bay College out of the approved 56, while IPAM and the Milton Margai College would also initially receive 12 and 10 respectively. He promised that the remaining solar lights would be delivered to them. Vice President, FBC Students’ Union Government, Claudia Joy Redwood-Sawyer, could not hide her joy, maintaining that the eerie silence and fear which often descends on the campus because of its dark nature at night was now going to be a thing of the past.
Chairman of the occasion and Deputy Minister of Works, Fourah Bay College Students’ Union Government, Margaret Songu-Mbriwa, reechoed the kind and favorable sentiments expressed by her colleagues, thanking all the stakeholders involved in the process and appealing to the minister to ensure that the remaining solar lights were delivered as promised. The Minister of Energy who later officially commissioned the 20 solar lights was accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr. Eldred Taylor and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry.
